we have been getting tons of requests for pictures of oscar's halloween costume, so here they are! for those that dont know who billy the exterminator is, he looks like this.

this was the first year that oscar picked what he wanted to be for halloween. here is goes looking for snakes...

so - about the costume - we started with a black tshirt and some pants and shoes that he already had. i ordered some studs and spikes and black pleather online to make his vest, gloves and wristbands. i'm glad i dont have to sew pleather very often - what a pain in the butt! i ironed on some logos on the shirt and painted the logo on the back of the vest. finishing touches were the necklace, the chain belt which didnt even show, the belt buckle (hot glue and silver paint), that fabulous hair-do, and his little soul patch (face paint).

and while i had the face paint out, nana wanted a camo face. i didn't really get any pictures of myself or jeremy. thursday i was a vampire and saturday i was a witch. jeremy also had some vexcon logos ironed on a black tshirt.

10.26.2010

mid-september to mid-october i tried to do a 30 day challenge where i was supposed to get rid of 10 things a day. i know i didn't do it EVERY day, but i think after cleaning out my craft closet for 2 days i probably got rid of enough stuff to make up for the missed days. above is the before picture.

and here is the after! there is still a LOT of stuff in there, but at least what is left is in some sort of order. i would like to label all of the shoe boxes of stuff at some point.

and the trash that was left from the closet clean out. (there was also a box of things to donate)

10.25.2010

at the beginning of october we had some really nice sweater weather, so i packed us a picnic and we headed over to the little playground they just put in

we ate sandwiches, string cheese, grapes, and these apples:

you cut around the core, reassemble and then hold them together with a rubber band. they were pretty fun, but the apple got a bit brown. i think if oscar likes these when he starts school i'll get a mini spray bottle of lemon juice to spritz on before reassembly.

10.23.2010

so finally some pictures of this shower i threw a month ago! if you'll recall i had some inspiration i was working from, so the sources i can remember are listed in that post.

i really loved the umbrella with raindrops - enough so that i did an extensive search for THE perfect umbrella (nice shape, curved handle, color to match the party colors, not too expensive) i was happy with the one i finally found on amazon. it is now in denise's closet (raindrops still attached) for a shower she is planning.i loved these little favor boxes - what a cute inexpensive way to package party favors! plus the decorations are a bit raindrop like on the sides, dont you think?

inside the favor boxes were massive chunks of fudge (2"x2") and these cute little umbrella charms i found on etsy.

water bottle labels

paper umbrellas for in the cups

here are the cookies that oscar and i worked on! i was disappointed by the color when i unpacked them. they seemed a lot more vibrant when i iced them - does icing fade?

kristen being showered with presents!

i made her a diaper cake (and forgot to take a better picture). it's basically prefold diapers wrapped around a bottle of sparkling grape juice and held together with diaper pins and ribbons. there are also some socks and washcloths tucked inside. since she plans to cloth diaper, these might come in handy!

cake balls. yikes. i thought i should give them a try, but they were very time consuming! also, if i didnt freeze them on the stick they would fall off, but when i froze them the chocolate coating cracked as it hardened! it was a nightmare. however, they were a HUGE hit. even though there weren't that many of us at the party, i didn't have to worry about taking any home with me! i did chocolate/chocolate for the chocolate looking ones and the white ones were spice cake/cream cheese.

i wasn't really thrilled with the cake either. but jeremy pointed out to me that i'm usually NOT thrilled with anything i make and that others usually think i did a fantastic job anyway. that made me feel a bit better.. and then the umbrella cracked in half on the drive there. *sigh*

but it tasted fine, anyway!

denise came early to help me set up and then stayed afterwards to help me clean up. she's the best! she's also very nit-picky about details, so just the kind of person i like to have around while i'm trying to set things up. and also willing to climb on chairs and tables!

a couple pictures from when oscar and i made cookies for kristen's baby shower. actually, i made cookies for the baby shower and oscar made train cookies. he had a lot of fun and did a great job with his rolling pin! (forgot to get pictures of the actual cookies...)

one of my favorite things about fall is all the yummy foods! i've made butternut squash and spicy sausage soup a few times already this year. i think it is one of my all time favorite soups. this last time around i made it without any heavy cream and i also added zucchini. it was still just as good, but with less guilt. jeremy added some skim milk to make his a bit creamier. i have been pigging out on apples and apple cider and i hope to make some of these cookies soon.